Updated 4.10pm

Nationalist MP Karol Aquilina has filed a police report about fake profiles using his name and photo on Facebook, attempting to defraud people.

The fake profiles are allegedly being used to solicit donations and personal information from recipients.  

In a statement, Dr Aquilina called on the police to investigate. Dr Aquilina told the police that the profiles were created to defraud people through deceitful messages and to put him in a bad light.

He urged recipients to ignore such messages.

Later, Dr Aquilina told the Times of Malta that his biggest concern was for the elderly and those who were not savvy about seeing through these fake profiles.

He said the incident reached its peak when an elderly relative of one of his friends had been tricked into giving out personal details and transferring, “a substantial amount of money which runs into thousands”. It was then that a police report was filed with the police.

“I’m extremely worried and it's unfair on those who receive these messages. I’m worried about the elderly people who don’t know what to do. They could be duped easily,” he said. 

Dr Aquilina said that over the past 48 hours, his contacts have been messaged by a fake profile using messenger without a Facebook account, to offer them information about human resources or government grants. 

The profiles are also soliciting donations and personal information in return for government jobs.  

He said messages were sent to his contacts and deleted after a few hours. Around 40 of his contacts had reached out to him online or by phone asking why they were being offered these services and if his account was hacked.

Dr Aquilina was concerned that some people could understand the messages to mean they could pay money to get a government job. "They might be convinced. I’m not doing this,” he said.

The PN MP said the police acknowledged his report and would now be investigating. In the meantime, he was trying to stay one step ahead of the fake profile by continually changing his profile photo to authenticate himself.

Although it was not the first time that his account was hacked, Dr Aquilina said that these type of actions had not been taken before.

His account, he said, was first hacked around a month ago and all the hackers did was say "hello" to all his contacts. "This time it's more concerted and more widespread,” he added.